The Mythical, Imaginary "They"

Like so many other mythical creatures such as unicorns, jackelopes, fairies and gnomes, the mythical, imaginary "They" persistently keeps popping up in popular political mythology: "They" should provide free medical care for the poor; "They" ought to give pensions to the elderly; "They" should provide free college education for everyone; "They" ought to build and staff hospices for the dying... the list could go on and on. I've heard these myths over and over during our 17 years in Russia and now I'm hearing almost identical myths in America.

As I've written in my "Daily News & Views," seven percent of American adults believe that chocolate milk comes from brown cows, twenty percent of American high school graduates don't know how to make toast, and one-third of British high school graduates don't know how to boil an egg. This is the new "virtual reality."

People today have been raised in an environment so removed from basic physical reality that they think the mythical "Others" or "They" can and should magically provide all their needs, wants and wishes. Certainly, we don't need to know every detail of how an economy functions, but we ought to have a grasp on basic facts such as all cows give white milk and water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius) with or without eggs.

As the article Religion and Politics at the Dinner Table: Challenging the Old Maxim explains, "family members bear natural affection toward each other" - or at least they should - and thus they bear responsibility to care for the young, the infirm and the elderly in the family circle.

As the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy - "But if anyone doesn’t provide for his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever. ...If any man or woman who believes has widows, let them relieve them, and don’t let the church be burdened; that it might relieve those who are widows indeed" (1 Tim. 5:8 & 16). The context is about how the church should care for widows in their midst, but the primary responsibility lies with the immediate family.

The Church Fathers Chrysostom, Theodore, and Theodoret wrote that "Special care is to be given to the supervision of the work of widows in the church. It is important to distinguish those widows who deserve appropriate support from those who do not and to monitor the widows who are being supported, lest their time turn to idleness and mischief. The true widow is chaste and patient, and if she is without children, she deserves the church’s support" (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture).

Note how St. Paul and these Church Fathers emphasize the need for the local church to monitor the behavior of widows. St. Paul wrote that younger widows should get married and bear children: "So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander" (verse 14).

Instead, what we have is "They," the modern secular welfare state, even giving young women financial incentives to not get married, to bear children out of wedlock. The article Why Are So Many Millennials Having Children Out of Wedlock? states - "57 percent of parents ages 26 to 31 were having kids outside of marriage."

Why has this happened? It's not simply due to income inequality, as the article implies. That's a result, not the cause of the problem. Rather, it's because Christians have not taken a firm stand in the public square on social matters; instead, we've allowed the state to pay unwed mothers to have babies. Children born out of wedlock have a very difficult life ahead of them. Morality in sexual conduct isn't a "private matter," it has a direct effect on society at large, on the economy, and on our taxes.

Not only are babies increasingly being born out of wedlock, fewer and fewer babies are being born. The post-war "baby boomers" born from 1945 to 1960 - seventy million Americans - are now reaching retirement age, and there are not enough young adults paying into the Social Security fund to support them. These 70,000,000 retirees also are no longer investing money in private retirement plans but instead taking their money out, while those same fewer young adults are putting less money into private retirement plans. This means less money for investment in the economy... thus a shrinking economy.

When the socialist notion takes root in our thinking that the mythical, imaginary "They," the state, will take care of us from the cradle to the grave, this begins to weaken the above Christian teaching about the immediate family's responsibility to take care of each other. Adult children begin to think that if they live far away from their parents or if they simply don't want to, they don't need to look after their elderly parents. We've witnessed first-hand in Russia how a divorced adult son beat up and forced his widowed and disabled mother out of her apartment so that he could live there with his girlfriend. Similar things are happening here too.

The answer to these problems isn't to simply continue singing our hymns and listening to warm-fuzzy pablum-sermons in church while we stick our heads in the sand and ignore society as it crumbles around us. The answer is to preach and practice the Scriptural texts on social responsibilities and sexual conduct, as well as to boldly express these teachings in the public square. We not only have the right to freely express our religious beliefs, as the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution clearly states, but also a civic duty to do so.

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 13 Aug. 2017.)

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The Incarnation Leads to Ministry

The natural and logical result of the Incarnation leads to ministry to the Christian community of faith, as well as to the larger community of the secular society in which we live. And true Christian ministry to the community is based on the agape-love of God toward us, which we then demonstrate toward one another.

There are many "one anothers" in the Bible: "love one another," "forgive one another," "care for one another," "bear one another's burdens." All these point to the fact that when "the Logos became flesh and dwelt among us," when God took on our broken human nature, He restored the broken relationships, the exploitive ways we manipulate each other.

A serious problem developed in Old Testament Israel: the Lord had commanded them to never charge interest from a fellow Jew but they often broke that command, resulting in deep indebtedness and slavery. This form of exploitation was to be eliminated in the New Community, the Christian Church. And Christians should not borrow money: "Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law" (Romans 13:8). How often do today's Christians break this command?

In the New Community, the Church, the Levitical priesthood was eliminated. In the Old Testament and in Christ's time on earth, the priesthood had become a way to exploit and control Jewish society. How often did Jesus excoriate the priests, scribes, and Pharisees! But in the Church we are all "a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation" (1 Peter 2:9). When a believer is baptized and chrismated into the Church, that person is also tonsured as a priest.

Of course, there are different gifts: some are called to be bishops, evangelists, pastors, or teachers - "to equip the saints to do the work of ministering to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature, perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:12-13). The goal for all Christians - not just the clergy or a few saints - is to reflect the fullness of Christ's glory.

The Incarnation of Christ led Him to "empty Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross" (Philippians 2:8-9). Christ's servant-nature is an example for us: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (verse 5).

We have freedom in Christ, being freed from our selfish sinful nature, but freedom doesn't mean we can do whatever we want: "For you, brothers, were called to freedom. Only don't use your freedom as an excuse to gratify the flesh, but serve one another through love" (Galatians 5:13).

The Greek word for "ministry" in the New Testament is "diakonia" - it also means service or serving. A good expression of this is "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2). This doesn't mean, however, that some people should just lean back and let others carry the load: "But let each man test his own work, and then he will take pride in himself and not in his neighbor. For each man will bear his own burden" (verses 4-5).

St. Paul wrote - "But we exhort you, brothers, that you abound more and more; and that you make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, and to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, even as we charged you; that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and may have need of nothing" (1 Thes. 4:10b-12).

Also, "For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: 'If anyone will not work, neither let him eat.' For we hear of some who walk among you in rebellion, who don't work at all, but are busybodies. Now those who are that way, we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread" (2 Thes. 3:10-12). Those who refuse to work, St. Paul says, are rebelling against God's established order of things. If they needlessly rely on "charity" they are in effect stealing someone else's bread.

The classic passage some Christians quote against works is - "for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). But from the context, it should be clear that St. Paul is referring to the ritual works of the Mosaic Law.

Some Christians, though, conveniently leave out the very next verse - "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them" (verse 10). In the same letter, St. Paul goes on to write - "Let him who stole steal no more; but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need" (Ephesians 4:28).

God is not an arbitrary tyrant, choosing some to be saved no matter what they do, and others to be damned in spite of their being good people. He is a loving God Who rewards good and punishes evil - "For we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad" (2 Corinthians 5:10). If there is no free will to choose good or evil, then there is no moral responsibility for sin and no reward for being good. God Incarnate, Christ the Living Word, calls us to live responsibly, to love our fellow believers, and to serve one another in love.

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 22 Jul. 2017.)

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Faith, Family, and Freedom

in Rod Dreher's recent article "How To Get More People To Church," he deals with the complex issues of faith, family, and freedom: how can we best pass on our faith to our family - our children, while at the same time respecting their increasing freedom as they grow up?

Dreher list eleven points with a paragraph or two on each point, and at the end, he quotes Robert Louis Wilkins as follows:

"If Christian culture is to be renewed, habits are more vital than revivals, rituals more edifying than spiritual highs, the Creed more penetrating than theological insight, and the celebration of saints’ days more uplifting than the observance of Mother’s Day. There is great wisdom in the maligned phrase ex opere operato, the effect is in the doing. Intention is like a reed blowing in the wind. It is the doing that counts, and if we do something for God, in the doing God does something for us."

Below are the 11 points, and if you're interested enough, you can read the whole article!

1. Accept that there’s no such thing as a foolproof program for this.
2. Don’t outsource your kids' religious education.
3. Practice your religion yourself.
4. The life of faith is 80 percent formation, 20 percent information.
5. Don’t shy away from the big questions.
6. Encourage a sense of wonder.
7. Help them to see the universality and the historic dimension of the Church.
8. Beauty and Goodness are greatly undervalued as witnesses and teachers.
9. Practice little rituals of forgiveness.
10. It's not up to you, ultimately, but to God and to your child.
11. Be the Church, not the World.

It's hard on parents (and grandparents) to watch their children (and grandchildren) grow up, because by nature we're protective of our offspring. We don't want to see any harm come to them. We pray and pray and pray for their safety and purity. And yet, we know that in order for them to grow up, we need to let them jump out of the nest and fly on their own. It's a dangerous world out there, outside the nest. Hawks and eagles snatch up little critters for a snack.

And back to the human analogy, when we're young we think that we're invincible, that nothing bad is going to happen to us because so far nothing bad has happened (because our parents have been looking out for us). So we tend to do "stupid stuff" thinking nothing bad will happen. I lifted big rocks - actually small boulders - while building a rock wall for our garden. I didn't see any sign saying -

"The Law of Gravity Is
  Strictly Enforced Here!"

After a week or so of lifting big rocks, CRACK! I ruptured two disks in my lower spine. What I thought was saving $100 or so by not hiring a guy with a garden tractor or small bulldozer, ended up costing over $55,000 for back surgery. Yes, when we're young, we do "stupid stuff"! Now I do job counseling with young people at an inner-city mission. Several of them have done "stupid stuff" - committed petty crimes - so they have a record that will likely stay with them all their lives, just like I have two steel rods in my back and pain that will hang around for the rest of my life.

The risk of doing "stupid stuff" is part of growing up. It's called freedom. We must allow our children, grandchildren, and dear friends (my "clients" often become dear friends after I spend several counseling sessions with them) to make their own decisions. If they've done "stupid stuff," their options may be somewhat limited, but that doesn't mean they have no future ahead of them.

I once attended a conference where the speaker was a man who was in a car accident on the way to his wedding rehearsal. It left him a quadriplegic: paralyzed from the waist down. As he was sitting in his wheelchair up on the stage, unable to move his arms or legs, he said - "Before my accident, the whole world lay before me. There were probably 15,000 different careers I could choose from. Now there are only 10,000 careers I can choose." The audience cheered and applauded!

So don't ever think that if you've done "stupid stuff" you're all washed up, you'll never amount to anything. Remember the story of Joseph in the Old Testament? His older brothers sold him into slavery. While he was a slave in Egypt, his master's wife falsely accused him of attempted rape because he refused her trying to seduce him, so his master had him thrown into prison. But from prison, he became the top minister of all Egypt!

After his brothers (those jerks who had sold him into slavery) came to Egypt begging for food because back home there was a famine, Joseph said - "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive. Now therefore don't be afraid. I will nourish you and your little ones." (Genesis 50:20-21)

So his father, his brothers, their families and servants all came down to Egypt where there was plenty of food. They were saved from starvation! But after 400 years in Egypt, a new dynasty of pharaohs arose who enslaved all the Hebrews. They had to break out of this situation. Often in our lives, whether we had a good upbringing or not, we get into harmful habit patterns - overeating, smoking, drinking, doing drugs, sexual addiction, etc. - things that can destroy us, our families, and society around us. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul was recalling the falling back into slavery when he wrote -

The latest snare that the enemy of our souls, Satan, is setting for young people is the LGBTQ form of sexual addiction. Satan's siren song goes something like this: "You were simply born this way!" NOT TRUE! In the vast majority of cases, it's social conditioning (indoctrination in the media, our schools and universities) that causes young people to choose the gay path: only a fraction of one percent of the population are born with indeterminate sex.

Or the Devil whispers: "Whatever goes on between two consenting adults is nobody else's business!" Or: "What matters most is social justice; personal morality is a matter of one's free choice!" But social justice requires a society, so if one chooses the LGBTQ path, there'll be no society left - sex is intended for producing the next generation of society, but same-sex acts simply don't reproduce.

Or Satan's stupidest snare is this: "Come on! Everybody's doing it!" As my father-in-law used to tell his children, "If all your friends were walking off a cliff, would you do it too?" Millions of people have already died of HIV-AIDS: don't be the next one! The Apostle Paul wrote -

"Don't you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don't be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor extortioners, will inherit the Kingdom of God. Such were some of you, but you were washed. But you were sanctified. But you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God. 'All things are lawful for me,' but not all things are helpful. 'All things are lawful for me,' but I will not be dominated by anything. 'Foods for the belly, and the belly for foods,' but God will destroy both it and them. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. Now God raised up the Lord, and will also raise us up by his power." (1 Corinthians 6:9-14)

As Christians, we are called to be citizens of the Kingdom of God, not deceived into following the crowd. Just because something is lawful doesn't mean it's helpful: Getting drunk and smoking are legal, but everyone should know by now that they're harmful to our bodies. Sexual promiscuity now is legal, but the consequences for our bodies, for our families, and for society can be disastrous: think "Ebola" and "AIDS." People say - "If it tastes or feels good, do it!" But your belly or your bottom isn't where your brain is located - use your brain! God's goal for us is to resurrect and restore us into the glorious likeness of Christ's risen and glorified body. St. Paul continues -

"Don't you know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! Or don't you know that he who is joined to a prostitute is one body? For, as it is written, 'The two will become one flesh.' But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. Flee sexual immorality! Every other sin that a person commits is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." (1 Corinthians 6:15-20)

True freedom is only found in Christ: "Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit." (2 Corinthians 3:17-18)

Also, St. Paul wrote - "What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under law, but under grace? May it never be! Don't you know that to whom you present yourselves as servants to obedience, his servants you are whom you obey; whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that, whereas you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were delivered. Being made free from sin, you became bondservants of righteousness." (Romans 6:15-18)

Choose Faith, Family, and Freedom!

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 09 Jul. 2017.)

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Mill's Religion of Liberalism

In Samuel Gregg's recent article "John Stuart Mill’s Intolerant Faith and the Religion of Liberalism" published on the Witherspoon Institute's website, we read and begin to understand what really lies behind most of the ideology of what is called "Liberalism" today.

When we think of "Liberalism," we likely most often have in mind the ideas of "liberty and justice for all," the freedom to express and live according to one's beliefs or worldview, and to grant others this same freedom as long as they respect our rights to live according to our beliefs. This may have been what the Founding Fathers of the U.S. had in mind. But the ideas that drive society can change. One hundred years after the founding of the U.S., the idea of "Liberalism" had taken on a new meaning, thanks largely to the writings of John Stuart Mills.

Mills had in mind the reshaping of the Western notions of God and morality. The above article mentions Cambridge historian Maurice Cowling's 1963 book Mill and Liberalism, which calls John Stuart Mills' "Liberalism" a form of "moral totalitarianism." In that book, "Cowling challenged the widespread view of John Stuart Mill as the secular saint of tolerance. According to Cowling, Mill’s liberalism constituted nothing less than an alternative religion: one that turns out to be a rather fideistic faith that demands submission from nonbelievers." So today, as the above article states -

"Mill, I suspect, would be gratified at just how many Christians and Jews have embraced that same liberal faith over the past 150 years. For them, feelings are the measure of morality. That is consistent with liberal religion’s view of God as the indulgent Great Non-Judge: except, of course, with regard to questions such as the environment or supranational bureaucracies. On such subjects, the otherwise soft-spirited Deity and his followers brook little dissent, prudential or otherwise."

The article continues - "It was the French philosopher Auguste Comte who proposed a 'Religion of Humanity' as a full-blown successor to supernatural religion. Mill’s writings mention Comte extensively. In his Autobiography (1873), however, Mill describes Comte’s scheme as 'the completest system of spiritual and temporal despotism which ever yet emanated from a human brain, unless possibly that of Ignatius Loyola'." So here we have the modern Liberals' hero, John Stuart Mills, advocating a "spiritual and temporal despotism" akin to that of Ignatius Loyola!

Under the guise of what one hundred years earlier had been understood as "Liberalism" or "liberty and justice for all," Mills had smuggled in the ideas of a "liberal" pseudo-clergy that would strictly enforce his "Religion of Humanity" that he believed was "a better religion than any of those which are ordinarily called by that title."

So there you have it: modern "Liberalism" according to one of its leading thinkers is actually a "Religion of Humanity" that should be enforced by a "spiritual and temporal despotism" - an earthly, worldly clerisy that brooks no dissent to its belief system. The Liberal worldview is thus closely aligned with Marxism in its approach to promulgating its ideas by "the barrel of a gun," as Chairman Mao said.

Mills viewed Christ as merely "a great man." This is quite similar to the Arian heresy's notion of Jesus Christ as a very good man who was indwelt sometime later in life by a spirit from God. This also explains why modern Liberalism is supportive of Islam and Muslim immigration, because Islam is a form of Arianism, teaching that Jesus was a great prophet and a godly man, but not the Son of God. Modern man, according to Mills, has outgrown such old-fashioned ideas.

As the Apostle John wrote - "Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son, the same doesn't have the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also. Therefore, as for you, let that remain in you which you heard from the beginning. If that which you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son, and in the Father." (1 John 2:22-24) The article continues -

"In other words, thanks to modern science, most smart people no longer believe Christianity’s claims. The insinuation is that only less intelligent or unenlightened beings could cling to an obsolescent belief system. Hence, we need to 'move on.' This amounts to what the philosopher Thomas Pink calls the 'Whig theology of secularization as spiritually progressive.'"

Under the banner of "modern, progressive thinking," the new secular-humanist Liberalism rejects the old idea of the Incarnation, God taking on human nature in Jesus Christ, so that we could "become partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4) and become united with Christ's divine-human nature. As the Apostle John wrote further -

"Beloved, don't believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit who doesn't confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God, and this is the spirit of the Antichrist, of whom you have heard that it comes. Now it is in the world already." (1 John 4:1-3)

The deeper, hidden ideas behind Liberalism, according to Mills, are the eradication of historical Christian teachings -

"In correspondence with Comte, Mill stated that "The time has not yet come when we in England shall be able to direct open attacks on theology, including Christian theology, without compromising our cause.' But 'indirectly,' he says in another letter to Comte, 'one may strike any blow one wishes at religious beliefs.' That way, he tells Comte, you avoid frightening off 'the young' 'who would eventually become accustomed to all [positivism’s] consequences, including the antireligious ones.'"

God is greater than humanist-secularist Liberalism, science, technology, artificial intelligence - even Google maps, self-driving cars and IBM's Watson. We must not cower in fear of a Liberal onslaught against our faith - "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear." (1 John 4:18a) and "Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" (1 John 5:5) Let us believe and publicly confess our faith that Jesus is the Son of God incarnate!

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 25 Jun. 2017.)

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The Sin of Partiality

Some of the most intractable problems in the Christian Church are in the way rich Christians treat poor Christians and the poor in general. St. John Chrysostom wrote - "To show contempt for the poor is as much an infraction of the law as murder or adultery, and it is even more serious because it is so common. Christians must learn to fight against the temptations of worldly wealth and concentrate instead on the heavenly blessings, which are the only true riches. Both rich and poor are all of one body in Christ. Those who base their lives on greed are the poorest of all."

The Apostle John wrote down Christ's words - "To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: 'The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life says these things: I know your works, oppression, and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Don’t be afraid of the things which you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested; and you will have oppression for ten days. Be faithful to death, and I will give you the crown of life.'" (Rev. 2:8-10)

But St. John also recorded these words of Christ - "To the angel of the assembly in Laodicea write: 'The Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of God’s creation, says these things: "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth. Because you say, 'I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing;' and don’t know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked; I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich; and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see."'" (Rev. 3:14-18)

How easy it is for rich people - including some Christians - to think, "I'm rich, I have plenty of money and possessions to meet my needs, now I can relax and enjoy life. But I'd better ignore and stay away from those poor Christians, though, because they're always asking for money, trying to get their hands on my money!" This is the mindset of the Laodicean Christians, of whom Christ said - "because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth."

Practicing discrimination or partiality on the basis of wealth or poverty (or ethnicity or gender) alone is wrong, but we ought rather look for the reasons for wealth and poverty. Some have acquired wealth by hard work and use that wealth for the Lord's work. Others acquired wealth simply by inheritance or good luck and spend that wealth on themselves. The Apostle Paul instructed his disciple Timothy about the proper attitude toward wealth, about people who misuse both religion and wealth -

"...people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these let us be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. ...As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life." (1 Tim. 6:5-10 & 17-19)

Some are poor because of a crisis - drought, illness or economic collapse, or because of a birth defect - mental or physical. They deserve help to recover from such a condition if at all possible. But others are poor because of unwillingness to work or desire to get rich quick by deceitful means, to whom St. Paul writes -

"Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. ...Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need." (Eph. 4:22-25 & 28) 

There are some who become poor due to a temporary illness, but then they become accustomed to not working and continue to live off charity from others. To them the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews (probably St. Paul) instructs them to discipline themselves and get the rehabilitation they need to get back to normal life -

"For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed." (Heb. 12:11-13)

I write this because there's a great tendency for some people to try to "live off the system" by pretending to be sick or disabled. The problem with this is: if people act like they are disabled or chronically sick in order to gain sympathy or get some benefits, sooner or later they will become the role they are playing. You've probably heard of actors who are called on repeatedly to play the role of a tough guy or a villain. After a few movies in such roles, they're "typecast" - that's the way people begin to relate to such actors, and that's the kind of persons they become. I've witnessed several people who because of a temporary injury apply for permanent disability income. But after they receive the status of "disabled," they grow fat and lazy, physically unable to work. It takes much self-discipline and encouragement from others o break out of this lifestyle.

As I quoted in my most recent essay, St. Paul urged Christians "to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own business, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one." (1 Thes. 4:11-12) And later, St. Paul wrote another letter to that same church in Thessalonica -

"For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but are busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good." (2 Thes. 3:7-13)

So in conclusion, it's wrong to practice discrimination or partiality on the basis of wealth or poverty alone, but instead we ought to examine the causes and the motives of such conditions. Only then should we offer loving advice and encouragement.

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 11 Jun. 2017.)

God Works... And We Must Work

How has it come about that Christians can be so full of themselves that God can't fill them and use them? The great Fathers of the Church have struggled for centuries with the question of the relationship between faith and works. The Church Fathers Augustine of Hippo versus John Cassian and Vincent of Lerins in the fifth century led the debate on this issue, which, during the Protestant Reformation a thousand years later, was joined by John Calvin versus Jacobus Arminius.

I've written before on the topic of The Fullness, so I won't go into great depths on it here. Suffice it to say that St. Paul writes in Col. 1:19 & 27 - "For it pleased the Father that in Him [Christ] all fullness should dwell. ...For to them [the saints] God would make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the nations, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." And in ch. 2:9-10 he writes - "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And you have this fullness in Him, who is the Head of all principality and power." These are wonderful promises!

But there's a catch here: these great and precious promises are conditional upon Col. 1:23 - "If indeed you continue in the faith grounded and settled, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you have heard and which was proclaimed in all the creation under Heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister." The "If" condition clearly means that it is possible for us to not continue in the faith, and thus lose out on acquiring the fullness of Christ. The reason I bring this up is because the Augustinian doctrines of predestination of the elect, irresistible grace, and the assurance of eternal salvation have won over the majority of Western Christians, and have even spilled over into our political ideology of the predestined inevitability of freedom and democracy for all humanity, especially the "enlightened."

This has resulted in our thinking that because we are God's chosen, the elect, the enlightened ones, therefore we have "free grace," we have it made in the shade, we don't have to do anything, we can just relax in our eternal security because we have a guaranteed ticket to heaven. We don't have to do good works in order to obtain this salvation, and we have these wonderful promises of the fullness of Christ's glory in us. In the political sphere it translates into - "everything should be free: free education, free health care, free love, free birth control, free abortions." After all, didn't St. Paul write - "For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Eph. 2:9)? Thus we've arrived, we're full of ourselves, as the above photo says, so God can't fill us with Himself.

However we need to consider the whole counsel of God, not just cherry-pick a few favorite verses that support our self-centered viewpoints. Let's consider the very next verse - "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them." (Eph 2:10)

Before God can fill us with Himself, we need to empty us of ourselves, as Christ did - "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, Who, existing in the form [nature] of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men." (Phil. 2:5-7)

Like St. Paul, we must realize that we don't have it made, we haven't yet arrived - "So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for His good pleasure." (Phil. 2:12-13) This is called "Synergy - being co-workers together with God."

After listing his extensive pedigree and education, St. Paul goes on to say -

"But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith — that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you." (Phil. 3:7-15)

If St. Paul considered that he hadn't made it, how much more should we think that we don't have it made? We can't kick back and rest -

"To whom did He [God] swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not combined with faith in those who listened. ...So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore labor to enter into that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience." (Heb. 3:18-19; 4:1-2 & 9-11)

Here we see something of a paradox: "Let us therefore labor to enter into that rest." Labor to rest? Yes! Work must come before rest. We must strive and struggle, like St. Paul did, to race toward the finish line before we can rest. Faith is not the opposite of works; rather, genuine faith results in good works. We can't do good works in order to earn righteousness and salvation, but instead, we do good works because we have been saved and received Christ's righteousness. God works in us, and therefore we can and must work for Him!

St. Paul wrote - "For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God." (1 Thes. 2:9) And love for one another doesn't exclude hard work - "Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own business, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one." (1 Thes. 4:9-12) And later, St. Paul wrote another letter to that same church in Thessalonica -

"For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but are busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good." (2 Thes. 3:7-13)

St. Paul wrote to Titus, whom he had appointed to be bishop in Crete -

"Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity.... For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, Who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works." (Titus 2:7 & 12-14)

God's grace is for all people, all mankind, not just "the elect" - "But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love toward mankind appeared, not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but according to His mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, Whom He poured out on us richly, through Jesus Christ our Savior; that being justified by His grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This saying is faithful, and concerning these things I desire that you affirm confidently, so that those who have believed God may be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men." (Titus 3:4-8)

Thus we see the necessary relationship between God's grace and our good works. God loves the whole world, He wills for all mankind to be saved, His grace reaches out toward all people. But not all people choose to accept His love, His will, and His grace. Those who do, however, respond in gratitude by repenting, turning from their self-centered, self-gratifying lifestyle, and toward pleasing and serving the living God.

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 28 May 2017.)

"Love One Another" - But Peter Missed The Point!

Some people just don't get it, and the Apostle Peter was one of them. After Jesus indicated to John that Judas would betray Him, then Jesus dipped a piece of bread in the wine and gave it to Judas, who went out to betray Jesus. Now then, Peter wasn't a betrayer like Judas, he was just plain dumb... you know, thick-headed. Here's the story:

Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in Him. If God has been glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and He will glorify Him immediately. Little children, I will be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me, and as I said to the Jews, 'Where I am going, you can't come,' so now I tell you. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, just like I have loved you; that you also love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, where are you going?" (John 13:31b-36a)

Did you catch that? Jesus is saying that His betrayal and crucifixion will bring glory to God the Father, so He must leave them for a little while, but here's the main thing: "Love one another just like I have loved you, because that's how the whole world will know that you are My disciples!" He repeated it three times so they would get the point.

But what did Peter say? Did he say - "Lord, that's a wonderful idea! If we as Your followers would just love each other, the whole world will know that we are Your disciples!" NOT! He totally missed the point! Instead, he grabbed onto what Jesus said about going away, and Peter's mind turned to eschatology - the doctrines about the End Times, Jesus might be going to fetch an army and overthrow the Romans. Let's be nice to Peter, because he wasn't alone in his thick-headedness. After Christ was crucified and rose again, He met with His disciples one last time to give them some final instructions, and all of them switched their minds over to the End Times:

Being assembled together with them, He charged them, "Don't depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard from Me. For John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now." Therefore, when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, are You now restoring the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them, "It isn't for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set within His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth." (Acts 1:4-8)

Once again, Jesus is telling them about the Holy Spirit coming and filling them with power to proclaim the Good News, but they interrupt - "Lord, is this going to be the Big Finale, when Israel rules over the whole world?" His reply, though, is way too polite in the English translation: in Russian He says - "It's none of your business to know about the End Times! Your job is to be My witnesses to the whole world, that's what the Holy Spirit is for!"

When I was in the software consulting business, the speaker at one of the project management seminars I attended kept repeating - "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing!" Let's apply this to what Jesus was trying to pound into His followers' heads: "The main thing is to love one another, not to be forever arguing over the End Times or some other obscure doctrinal point. If you're ever going to preach the Good News to the whole world so that everyone will know that you're following My teachings, you've got to love one another. So get ready to receive the Holy Spirit!"

Jesus repeated His teaching on loving each other: "This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:12) Love is more than warm-fuzzy feelings, it's self-sacrifice. And a couple chapters later, John records these words of Jesus -

"I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them through Your name which You have given Me, that they may be one, even as We are. ...that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us; that the world may believe that you sent Me. The glory which you have given Me, I have given to them; that they may be one, even as We are one." (John 17:11 & 21-22)

Do you see the same idea here as in John ch. 13? Jesus is saying that He's going away to the Father, but He prays that we all will be one just like the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are of one essence. What is oneness or unity? It's when we stop arguing and fighting with each other, trying to prove who's the greatest or smartest, and start loving each other!

It seems that Peter finally "got it" -- the lesson finally began to sink in when, after he had denied Christ three times and broke down in tears for his cowardice, Jesus asked him three times after His resurrection if Peter really loved Him.

Then Peter, turning around, saw a disciple following. This was the disciple whom Jesus sincerely loved, [John,] the one who had also leaned on Jesus' breast at the supper and asked, "Lord, who is going to betray You?" Peter seeing him, said to Jesus, "Lord, what about this man?" Jesus said to him, "If I desire that he stay until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me." (John 21:20-22)

Once again Christ put off the discussion about End Times and who's going to make it there. Peter's job - and our job - is to follow Christ. The main thing is to keep this the main thing: follow Christ by doing what He commanded us to do: Love One Another! We don't follow Christ by simply studying the Bible or theology or "doing church" - holding beautiful and inspiring worship services. Those things are good, but they're secondary. The first thing - the main thing - is to love one another, love our neighbor as ourselves, even to the point of sacrificing ourselves, our self-interests and self-centeredness.

Of course, true faith and worship ("ortho-doxy") are important, but if it's done without love for our neighbors and even for our enemies, it counts for nothing: "In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the devil. Whoever doesn't do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who doesn't love his brother. ...This is His commandment, that we should believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as He commanded." (1 John 3:10 & 23)

Together with The Apostle Peter, the former persecutor Saul who became the Apostle Paul finally "got it" -

If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don't have love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don't have love, I am nothing. If I dole out all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don't have love, it profits me nothing. (1 Cor. 13:1-3)

Some indeed preach Christ even out of envy and strife, and some also out of good will. The former insincerely preach Christ from selfish ambition, thinking that they add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. (Phil. 1:15-17)

Brothers, be imitators together of me, and note those who walk this way, even as you have us for an example. For many walk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, as the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who think about earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from where we also wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; Who will change the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of His glory, according to the working by which He is able even to subject all things to Himself. (Phil. 3:17-21)

We should Love One Another and share the Gospel "out of love" in word and in deed. That's the main thing. And the result is to share in Christ's glory.

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 14 May 2017.)